The Tambo River or Berrawan is a perennial river of the Mitchell River catchment, located in the East Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria. With a total length in excess of , the Tambo River is one of the longest rivers in the East Gippsland drainage basin, extending from the steep forested southern slopes of the Victorian Alps through forest and farmland to the Gippsland Lakes. Physical aspects Course The Tambo River rises in the Bowen Mountains, below Mount Leinster in the Victorian Alps, part of the Great Dividing Range, about east of . The river flows generally south by south southeast by south southwest, joined by sixteen tributaries including the Little and Timbarra rivers, before reaching its mouth and emptying into Lake King, one of the main lakes in the extensive Gippsland Lakes system. Within the lake, the Tambo River forms confluence with the Mitchell River, west of the village of , with the Mitchell River draining into Bass Strait southwest of , in the Shire of East Gippsland. The river descends over its course. Along its route it passes by the towns or localities of Bindi, Tongio, Swifts Creek, Ensay, Tambo Crossing, Bruthen, Tambo Upper, Swan Reach, and Johnsonville. The river leaves the mountains and the Mount Tambo Scenic Reserve forming its headwaters near the locality of Bindi, north of Swifts Creek, and from Bindi flows through the Tambo Valley to Bruthen. The Great Alpine Road picks up the route of the river at Tongio and follows the river for much of the distance through the Tambo Valley south of this point. The valley from Bindi to just south of Ensay is relatively open and flat and is settled as farmland, however it again closes in to become steep forested mountain beyond Ensay. From just north of Bruthen the valley opens out into fertile river flats for the remainder of the river's journey to Lake King. At Swan Reach, the river is traversed by the Princes Highway. The river flats support cropping, dairy and beef cattle grazing. Channel Around Bindi the river channel is about in width. By the Swifts Creek and Ensay region the river is up to wide, with deep pools of up to , and a substrate of rubble and gravel. In the steep forest sections between Ensay and Bruthen the channel width is up to , with a varying substrate of bedrock,